DE 10 2005 053 394 A1 describes a vibration damper with adjustable damping force having a first adjustable damping valve for damping an extending movement of a piston rod and a second damping valve for damping a retracting movement of a piston rod. The two strictly separated switchable damping valves offer the advantage of a very large variety of characteristics. But, on the other hand, there is the disadvantage of the relatively large receptacle diameter resulting from the use of an annular check valve as part of an intermediate tube.
The aforementioned check valve serves for guiding flow between the adjustable damping valve, a fluid channel between a working space and the connected damping valve, and a compensation space. Both adjustable damping valves have a main flow direction and are connected to a common compensation space. The check valve prevents a hydraulic short circuit between a working space on the piston rod side and a working space remote of the piston rod via the compensation space.
It is an object of the present invention to further develop a generic vibration damper such that the problem of the large receptacle tube diameter is solved.